Being There - Production

Production

During the several years between the novel's publication and the film's production, Peter Sellers reportedly engaged in a determined quest to obtain the rights to bring the story to the screen and portray its lead character, sending several postcards and letters signed "Chance" to Jerzy Kosinski and Hal Ashby.

One cut of the film includes bloopers from a deleted scene, played during the closing credits: Sellers, lying on a gurney, tries in vain to recite the "message" given by the gang leader (one of the gang members is played by future Allman Brothers band bassist Oteil Burbridge), which includes quite a bit of swearing, with a straight face. Sellers ends up flubbing the lines and laughing instead. Such outtakes being shown in a major Hollywood production were very rare at the time, and Sellers reportedly disapproved of the decision to include them since, by all accounts, it was his desire with this film to display his skills as a serious dramatic actor. There is another cut of the film that has a shot of television static over the end credits.

There was a serious disagreement between Lorimar Films, the production company, and Ashby with respect to the final scene of the film, before the end credits. The original screenplay ended with Chance wandering down from the Rand funeral site and simply regarding the trees and leaves near the lake. Ashby thought of the "walking on water" ending and incorporated it into the production and the final cut. Lorimar hated the idea and it nearly led to Ashby being fired from the picture, but Ashby prevailed and his ending is now regarded as a brilliant mock-allegorical coda.

Additionally, there was substantial unhappiness over the final award of sole screenplay credit to Kosinski, since it was widely recognized that Robert Jones, the film editor of many of Ashby's pictures, had substantially revised Kosinski's very literal screenplay adaptation of his novel, and was really responsible for the screenplay that was filmed.

The film makes continued use of actual television clips throughout. These clips are part of the ambient visual and audio background, presented as a natural occurrence of a television being on in the room where the scene is taking place. The clips were chosen by Dianne Schroeder, and are referenced in the film credits as "Special Television Effects". These clips are an essential element of the film. They provide a window into the mind of Chance, who knows nothing of the world outside the old man's home except from what he's learned on television. They are also a comment on the addictive quality of television, as the film's audience begins to realize that they are drawn to the clips just as Chance is.

Incidental music is used very sparingly. What little original music is used was composed by Johnny Mandel, and primarily features two recurrent piano themes based on "Gnossiennes" No. 4 and No. 5 by Erik Satie. The other major piece of music used is the Eumir Deodato jazz/funk arrangement of the opening fanfare from Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, in the scene where Chance leaves the house and ventures out into the world for the first time.